Georgia: Exports, Jobs, and Foreign Investment

Exports Support Jobs for Georgia's Workers

Export-supported jobs linked to manufacturing account for an estimated 4.7 percent of Georgia's total private-sector employment. Nearly one-sixth (15.8 percent) of all manufacturing workers in Georgia depend on exports for their jobs. (2006 data are the latest available.)

Note: Export-related employment data shown do not include manufacturing and non-manufacturing jobs involved in the export of non-manufactured goods, such as farm products, minerals, and services sold to foreign buyers. Indirect exports exclude imported items. The complete 2006 export-related employment series is available on our Export Related Jobs pages. Additional information on methodology used in the export-related employment series can be found in the U.S. Census Bureau's publication Exports from Manufacturing Establishments: 2006.

Source: State Export-Related Employment Project, International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census.

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Exports Sustain Thousands of Georgia Businesses

A total of 7,891 companies exported from Georgia locations in 2006. Of those, 6,765 (86 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises, with fewer than 500 employees.

Small and medium-sized firms generated one-quarter (25 percent) of Georgia's total exports of merchandise in 2006.

Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Exporter Database.

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Foreign Investment Creates Jobs in Georgia

In 2006, foreign-controlled companies employed 173,600 Georgia workers. Major sources of Georgia's foreign investment in 2006 included the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and France.

Approximately one-third (30 percent), or 52,700 workers, were in the manufacturing sector in 2006.

Foreign-controlled companies employed 11.6 percent of manufacturing workers in Georgia in 2006.

Foreign investment in Georgia was responsible for 4.9 percent of the state's total private-industry employment in 2006.

Note: All figures exclude employment in banks affiliated with foreign companies.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis.

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Georgia Depends on World Markets

Georgia's export shipments of merchandise in 2007 totaled $23.4 billion. Georgia ranked 14th among the 50 states in terms of 2007 export value. Georgia increased its merchandise exports $7.1 billion from 2003 to 2007.

Georgia exported to 213 foreign destinations in 2007. The state's largest export market, by far, was our NAFTA trading partner Canada. Georgia posted exports of $4.4 billion to Canada in 2007, which was nearly one-fifth (19 percent) of the total for that year. Canada was followed China ($1.6 billion), the United Kingdom ($1.2 billion), Mexico ($1.2 billion) and Japan ($1.2 billion).

The state's leading export category was transportation equipment, which accounted for 18 percent, or $4.3 billion, of Georgia's total merchandise exports in 2007. Other top exports that year were machinery manufactures ($3.4 billion), chemical manufactures ($2.7 billion), and computer and electronic products ($2.4 billion).

Source: Revised Origin of Movement State Export Series, Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division.

Caution: The Origin of Movement series allocates exports to states based on transportation origin, i.e., the state from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a state should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement state export figures.

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Georgia's Metropolitan Exports

In the first half of 2007, the metropolitan area of Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta exported $6.0 billion in merchandise, 57 percent of Georgia's total merchandise exports. Other major metropolitan areas in Georgia that exported in the first half of 2007 included Savannah ($1.1 billion), and Dalton ($239 million). Two major metropolitan area exporters in Georgia included some counties from neighboring states. Augusta-Richmond County (including some parts of South Carolina) exported $745 million, while Chattanooga (including some parts of Tennessee) exported $385 million in merchandise in the first half of 2007.

Source: International Trade Administration and Bureau of the Census, Foreign Trade Division: Metropolitan Export Series.

Caution: The Origin of Movement zip-based series allocates exports to metropolitan areas based on transportation origin, i.e., the metropolitan area from which goods began their journey to the port (or other point) of exit from the United States. The transportation origin of exports is not always the same as the location where the goods were produced. Consequently, conclusions about "export production" in a metropolitan area should not be made solely on the basis of the Origin of Movement zip-based export figures.

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